A Bohemian ebony, fruitwood, burr and boxwood parquetry bureau cabinet Eger, third quarter 17th century

the top tier with two cupboard doors each with rectangular reliefs depicting Venus and Mars, and Diana and Actaeon on the left door and Mercury and Herse, and Hercules and Omphale on the right door, flanked by ebonised spirally twisted columns and opening to reveal a fitted interior with twelve central small drawers with cameo handles, within twelve further drawers with other mythological reliefs, the lower section with three recessed drawers flanked with protruding slanted sides and drawers above a flat writing surface with a compass rose parquetry motif above a central frieze drawer flanked by two deep drawers with further reliefs, eight spirally twisted legs joined by an H-form stretcher, on flattened bun feet.

RELATED LITERATURE
Heribert Sturm, Egerer Reliefintarsien, Prague, 1961, p. 35-37, 97-105.

The particular tradition of cabinet-making in Eger is known as early as circa 1630 and well into the 18th century. Renown for the relief marquetry technique, or Reliefintarsien, the town of Eger commissioned its workshops and masters to produce magnificent pieces of furniture, including cabinets and boxes, to be presented to the various courts of Europe. The uniqueness of Eger cabinets is evident in the carved low reliefs and construction incorporating different species of coloured woods.

The cabinetmaker began with a pine or spruce carcass, then added mahogany, walnut or maple for the flat intarsia, and finally boxwood, elm or ash for the reliefs. This resulted in highly intricate and colourful detail.

This cabinetmaking tradition is known to have been carried out by individual families, the most famous of which is the Ecks and Fischers, whose works can be admired in the houses of many of Electoral Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, op. cit. p. 38-42, 50-64.